Overview

On this episode of Build Your Network, Host Travis Chappell interviews Jeff Hoffman a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, motivational speaker, film producer, keynote speaker and author.

Topics Discussed:

• About Jeff Hoffman
  • Serves on the boards of numerous charities and non-profits.
  • Most excited about two things:
    • Inspiring as many entrepreneurs to succeed as possible.
    • In the process of buying an NFL football team with a group.
  • The more engaged you are in the world the more likely you are to stumble into things you’d never believe.
• Talk about how you got into entrepreneurship.
  • He’s impatient and hates inefficiency and his first startup was to create airport check-in kiosks that everyone uses today.
  • This is what got Jeff interested in the travel industry.
• What was the timeline from transitioning from airline kiosks to Priceline?
  • He continued to work on multiple startups after the kiosks.
  • Created some of the first internet banking technology.
  • They started Priceline at just the right time.
  • He’s had companies that he’s sold and some that went public.
  • He then took time off from running companies to mentor entrepreneurs.
• What’s one of your favorite places to travel to?
  • He decided that before he died he wanted to visit 50 countries.
  • We become more tolerant of other people the more cultures we see.
  • His favorites are a combination of Australia and New Zealand.
    • He got to feed kangaroos and meet the Maoris.
  • Do you believe that what you know or who you know is more important, and why?
    • You don’t know anything anyway.
    • You really are limited by the strengths and limitations of your network.
    • He spends a ton of time outside of the office building his network.
    • You want to build your network way before you need it.
  • Tell us about a time when a connection led to a moment of success?
    • He’s an engineer and finance is his weakness.
    • He engages strangers all the time and he spoke to a major executive at Universal Studios by happenstance.
    • He got to come by his office and ended up talking him into becoming his business partner.
    • Most of their success came from this executive’s knowledge and connections.
    • People don’t realize that if they took a day to go network, they could save a lot of time because they’d have the people they need.
  • What’s one big takeaway?
    • Schedule time to go out and network.
    • Meet people who have skills that you don’t.
  • Why do people neglect to network?
    • Sometimes success is your worst enemy, so you don’t think about networking.
    • The difference between doing well and scaling is handing off the tasks you’re not best at to people smarter than you.
  • What are some of the most effective ways you’ve found to network with people who are a level above you?
    • He’s a big fan of LinkedIn.
    • Be domain specific – go to events you wouldn’t normally go to with the intent of finding people who are good at what you’re not.
    • The first few seconds are awkward, but then people warm up.
    • You have to push past a little discomfort to get the big reward.
  • How important have masterminds and mentorships or other paid relationships been?
    • Don’t choose what’s popular, choose what fits you.

The Random Round:

• • What profession other than your own do you think it would be fun to attempt?
    • Being involved in the sports world
  • If you could sit on a park bench with anyone for an hour who would it be, and why?
    • Martin Luther King
  • How do you like to consume content?
    • All types of content, he mixes it up.
  • Give us a piece of content you’d recommend.
    • Buddha in the Trenches by Dr. Steve Taubman
  • Give us a glimpse of your morning routine
    • First thing- makes and attempt to learn one new thing that he doesn’t need to know.
    • Goes on WhatsApp and answers questions from entrepreneurs.
  • What is your go-to pump up song?
    • Classic Rock
  • What are you not very good at?
    • Patience
  • What is one place where we can find you online?
    • LinkedIn or JeffHoffman.com

Tweetable Quotes:

• If you want to make the world a better place, you launch armies of entrepreneurs.
• You really are limited by the strengths and limitations of your network.
• You want to build your network way before you need it.

Resources Mentioned:

Buildyournetwork.com– Podcast website

BYN.media/fb – Facebook Group

Buddha in the Trenches – book by Dr. Steve Taubman

JeffHoffman.com – Jeff’s website

Jeff’s LinkedIn Page